オーラル・ヒストリー手法による1980年代「三大三小」とトヨタ自動車の中国事業

抄録

This research question is to clarify why Toyota Motor （hereinafter referred to as “Toyota”） could not achieve local production of passenger cars in China in the 1980s through the oral histories of five people. At the same time, I would like to clarify the actual situation and changes in the local production of commercial vehicles and export business from Japan in the 1980s.

The academic value of this paper is to clarify the background of the joint venture negotiations in 1980, which have not been sufficiently clarified so far, and the reasons why they were unsuccessful and why Toyota could not enter the“ Three Big and Three Small Passenger Car Projects, through the oral histories of the actual negotiators, and at the same time to clarify the actual situation of Toyota’s export business in the 1980s and its transition. That is, Toyota, as a joint venture, failed to prepare a feasibility study that balanced foreign currency revenues and expenditures and to reach an agreement with its negotiating partners in China.

What are the implications for business executive? The answer to this question is how to evaluate Toyota’s non-involvement in the“ Three Big and Three Small” and its export business at that time. Considering the foreign currency balance issue in joint venture negotiations and Toyota’s entry into local production in the U.S., compared with China in the 1980s, Toyota’s choice was rational. However, when asked whether the Beijing Jeep and VW Group joint ventures were able to balance foreign currencies after that, a big question remains in terms of sales destinations and export performance. Certainly, not all of the foreign manufacturers （VW, Chrysler, Citroen, Peugeot, and Daihatsu） that participated in the“ Three Big and Three Small” were successful. However, the subsequent growth of the Chinese auto industry suggests that the Germans are driving growth more than the Japanese, and that the Chinese government is expecting them to do so.

The implication for business executive is that it was necessary to make business decisions that were not limited to the framework of a single company negotiating a joint venture, but that were based on a deep understanding of the government’s intentions and that led to win-win answers for the stakeholders involved.